removing thermostat?????CAN.......

[mirra32]

can i just take it off instead of regulating water presure. my friend said he did it to his 69 camaro and he just did it to his Eclipse with good results...what are the pro's and con's of this MOD...i know it serves a purpose............

[TheOne]

it'll help the engine get to optimun temp faster, but some people have taken it out and have had no problems at all.

i say if your car is not having any problems just keep it in there.

[:: orion ::]

it'll help the engine get to optimun temp faster, but some people have taken it out and have had no problems at all.

Other way around...takes MUCH LONGER to get to operating temp.

The thermostat stays closed until it reaches temp, then pops open to cool things off...then closes when it gets too cool, then opens when it gets hot...etc, etc...

Usually removing it HURTS cooling b/c the water moves through the radiator too fast...coolant needs a certain amount of time in the radiator to be able to shed the heat it's picked up from the motor

If you must remove it, gut the housing (remove the center part - the plunger), but leave the outside so the opening is no bigger, that way the flow will stay at the right speed, and allow the radiator to do it's job.

i say if your car is not having any problems just keep it in there.

^^^ That's the best advice.

- Brian

[InsanityInc]

It gets your COOLANT to operating temp faster, but you shouldn't be too concerned about that. Your engine is what you want at operating temp, your coolant is just a reflection of engine temp. Removing the thermostat will make your engine much slower to warm up, and will make the relationship between your coolant temp and engine temp a bit sketchy.

[deviousKA]

It will run far to cold without thermostat, during normal 40mph+ cruising, even with fans turned off you will hardly break 150 degrees coolant temp on a medium hot temp day. It will take longer to warm to operating temp as well. You want to keep the operating temp over 170 degrees (180-195 is best imho).

I was mucking around with this the other day, I ended up drilling 4 holes in the thermostat and leaving the rest of the mechanism intact. With fans off during crusing the temp range is good. Gutting the stat is better than removing it completely, but thats still to much free flow imho and really hard on the engine during warm up.

In other words, what those guys said.

[TheOne]

i meant the thermostat helps get to optimun temp faster.(forgot to put thermostat in there)

[8869muscle]

my question is why would you want to do this?....if the car is running too hot, then there is a problem elsewhere.....a new stock t-stat will be fine with a working radiator and good water pump....drilling a couple of small holes in the face though is an excellent idea in case it gets stuck...

[Chingon]

It gets your COOLANT to operating temp faster

??

[deviousKA]

Only reason i drilled some small holes is because the thermostat was not working (very well). 200 degrees with closed thermostat can really get on your nerves while tuning.

[pr240sx]

If I drill (or make the weep hole larger) the thermostat.Would the "cold" water prevents the thermo from opening?Or it will take longer (as more the water is running faster) to the thermo to open.I have the same setup as Orion describes. Only the outside of the thermo, no internals.With Altima fans (working properly, not always on) my temps are 180~190 average. My only worry is the huge temp fluctuation when the fans turn on, from 190 to 175 very quickly.Does this could hurt my engine in any way.

[InsanityInc]

??

Your coolant is very good at pulling heat away from your engine. Your radiator is actually a more efficient device than your actual engine. If you remove the thermostat, your coolant temp will start to rise (and rise rather rapidly) as soon as you start the car, as it will be taking a large portion of the heat out of the block and head, making your engine heat up much slower, instead of what it would normally do which would be to heat the coolant in the engine along with the block and head (which has nowhere to dissipate the heat to), and then start dissipating the heat when your thermostat opens.

[oneline180]

your engine will be fine operating at 175 deg F. i Have heard of people running fine without thermostats. and i tried it too before something caused my engine to over heat and blow off a hose and reach idn like fukin 300deg F. car has been sitting in my driveway for about two months......if your car has no overheating problem, do as those above say, and leave it alone.

[Thrwnsprkz]

wow... 180-190?

My car runs around 160-165 normally and upwards of 180 when im racing at the track.I also have a nismo thermostat, rad cap, water wetter and a vented hood to help her cool down.

she was running at 145-150 earlier this year when it was still very cool outside daily driving. (didnt drive it around much then)

I know it isnt good to run it too cool but I didnt think it was that low compaired to norm. op. temp.

and to think... I was about to rig in an electric fan

[InsanityInc]

If you run at a lower operating engine temperature you lose horsepower because heat dissipation is not a linear process. The further in temperature the two materials are from eachother, the faster heat will be transferred. Since heat is what makes power in your engine via increasing your cylinder pressure, a colder engine dissipates the heat faster, and you will lose power. Same reason you don't want to run really cold plugs in a normal engine.

[bendychicken]

I'm gonig to have to disagree with you on that one insanity. the surface of the combustion chamber, cylinder wall, and piston crown will only absorb a negligble amount of heat at the temperature differences where talking about here. Also you arent considereing that the same air that is being cooled a minute amount by these surfaces, has spent a much longer period of time going threw the intake manifold and cylinder ports which is colder a well. your going to absorb much less heat on the way in as a result of this, and as we all know a colder intake charge is a more dense charge which will produce more power in the end than what was lost to the chambers surfaces.

[bendychicken]

You shouldn't remove your thermostate because while your HP will go up a little, your gas mileage will go down as well as the life of your engine due to the larger tolerances between parts because they have not fully expanded.

You need a certain amount of heat to help atomize and evaporate fuel for a more complete burn (emitions, fuel economy)

[mirra32]

well i got board and took the theromostat out.....my temp gauge has not changed at all and the motor gets to operating temp. about the same time....i won't say it feels a little crisper when i rev because its probaly mentally..i live in houston texas and its freaken hot down here...i'm talking about almost 100 degrees outside..........

also talking about keeping things cooler .right now i'm figuring out how to install a slant rx7 radiator. i test fit it last night an fit perfectly in place and looks real good..upper and lower radiator hoses fit right in too..i will have enough room to mount an intercooler right in front of it with out making the IC piping go all the way into the front bumper i'll get some pics

eric